- The latest two-seater Su-34, worth £40 million, was shot down towards Mariupol
Ukraine claims it has shot down another Su-34 bomber – the fourth in three days – in a major setback to Vladimir Putin's war effort.
Shelling by Kiev forces sparked a major inferno in the Russian-occupied mining stronghold of Horlivka, destroying the main shopping center.
The latest two-seater Su-34, worth £40 million, was launched towards Mariupol, announced by the commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, Lieutenant General Mykola Oleschuk.
“It has been confirmed that our anti-aircraft missile system hit the Su-34 fighter-bomber in the Mariupol direction,” he said.
“He didn’t return to the airport.”
The latest £40 million two-seater Su-34 was launched towards Mariupol, announced by Ukrainian Air Force commander Lieutenant General Mykola Oleschuk (file photo)
The shooting down of the plane came as shelling by Kiev forces sparked a major inferno in the Russian-occupied mining stronghold of Horlivka, destroying the main shopping center. Videos show a huge fire, with thick clouds of smoke rising and ash raining down
Ukraine is also examining evidence that it shot down a Su-30 fighter toward Odessa over the Black Sea.
The strikes defy a bleak outlook for Ukraine's war progress amid signs of a slowdown in Western supplies.
Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat claimed that Russia was forced to reduce its air strikes due to the loss of Su-34s.
On December 22, Ukraine announced the shooting down of three Su-34s believed to have been hit by Patriot missile strikes.
Russian aviation expert Alexey Zakharov called the losses a “cruel” reality of war.
Ukraine carried out a heavy attack on Horlivka, targeting a “warehouse” believed to have been used by the Russian military in the city's main shopping center, Galaktika.
Russian Su-34 bomber (archive photo). “It was confirmed that our anti-aircraft missile system hit the Su-34 fighter-bomber in the Mariupol direction,” Oleschuk said
Ukraine carried out a heavy attack on Horlivka, targeting a “warehouse” believed to have been used by the Russian military in the city's main shopping center, Galaktika. Pictured: The building is on fire
According to Russian sources, one woman was killed and six were injured in the rocket attacks on the city in the Donetsk region.
Videos show a fierce fire with thick clouds of smoke and raining ash at the shopping center in Horlivka, a twin town of Barnsley in South Yorkshire.
Russia said it shot down three Su-27 fighter jets and one Su-24 tactical bomber – all Ukrainian – but there was no confirmation of this claim.
Separately, images have emerged of damage caused by a Ukrainian HIMARS attack on a fuel train in Ilovaisk.
At least six 55-ton tank cars were destroyed in the attack on a train supplying Russian military machinery in the occupied Donetsk region.